“Going Green” is truly a collaborative effort at Castle Farms of Charlevoix. Housekeeping and event staff members, plus maintenance workers, landscapers, gardeners, gift shop staff and wedding coordinators all work hand-in-hand with owner Linda Mueller to ensure Castle Farms is an ecologically-friendly place to visit, work and play.
It all began in 2007 when two employees with sharp eyes and a deep commitment to protecting the environment began to notice that as events at the Castle increased, so did the garbage. Dumpsters were overflowing with cardboard boxes from left-over wedding receptions and corporate events. The employees got together and came up with a plan; soon, efforts were made to remove the cardboard boxes from the dumpsters. Another employee volunteered to help by flattening the boxes in order to reduce the volume expended; another employee hauled boxes to the recycling center. Eventually, by 2009, efforts had proved so successful that they were expanded to include glass bottles. It took merely one week for Castle Farms housekeeping and event staff to convince local caters and bartenders to set aside boxes and glass bottles rather than simply throw them away. Recycling was truly on a roll!
Since that time, Castle Farms employees continue to find ways to “go green”. Each departmental office at Castle Farms now contains a “recycling box” suitable for paper and other recyclable materials. The use of Styrofoam cups was voluntarily outlawed, and employees now use cups which are washed daily by our housekeeping department. Recyclable cans and bottles are collected in labeled containers located in convenient places throughout the grounds for guests to use. Recycling is such a simple thing, yet the results are truly amazing, as evidenced by records begun the summer of 2010: since that time, over 4,000 pounds of glass, 240 cubic feet of cardboard, and 720 lbs. of newspaper, catalogs, and office paper have been recycled.